But I think I did too good of a job on meeting these criteria, because the first and the second bike that I bought were eventually stolen. And both of them were stolen from locked garages. So now I have a third bike, which I resolutely park outside of the garage!” she explains. Iychettira is quick to add that she also owned a bike back in her home country, India. “The bike I had was a ‘blue bird’, as it is called back home in India. It had a very pretty basket and elegantly thin tyres. As a matter of fact, biking is also quite popular in India, especially among children. But ultimately public transport took precedence, at least for me, as I grew up”. In the Netherlands, however, Iychettira still prefers riding her bike over taking public transport. “I feel completely handicapped every time my bike goes in for a repair or gets stolen,” she says. “It’s absolutely important for me to have a bike for transportation here in Delft” Although Iychettira was used to biking,
she did however experience some qualms when she started biking in the Netherlands.”Well, the retro gear system took me some getting used to,” she explains. “I used to feel rather funny every time I started riding my bike, but I think I’ve gotten used to it now. The best memory I have of biking here goes back to the first bike that I owned, ‘Spark’, when I biked to Rotterdam on it. Although the air on the back tyre was pretty low throughout the jouney, it did not give up until the very end. It wasn’t until we reached the ouskirts of Rotterdam that I felt the puncture. Fortunatley, I was able to get it repaired quickly at the bike shop at the station,” she says. Iychettira suggests the bike shop at the Delft station in case of emergencies, “Although it may not be cheap, the shop at the Delft station is very convenient. The store is open through the night, until at least 1 a.m., which is a very unusual openingstijd in Delft.
When asked what she plans to do with this bike, Iychettira smiles and says: “I’d like to keep it as long as Delft wishes for it to be with me! It’s all in the hands of the people of Delft.”
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